🌐 rethink your SDR play

Transform SDRs into market validators

Adem Manderovic highlights how Paul Perrett is rethinking the B2B revenue engine at Firmable to move from $2M to $10M ARR by rewiring your company’s sales approach:

Firmable’s different approach

Instead of “meeting factories,” SDRs become market validators:

✔ Discover companies’ vendors

✔ Track when contracts expire

✔ Note what buyers like or dislike

✔ Work around buyers’ timing

This “cataloguing” process informs every function:

➔ Marketing shapes campaigns with data

➔ Sales re-engages when timing is right

➔ CS looks for potential renewal risks early

Turn SDRs from noise makers into growth drivers.

Create your B2B revenue engine

Map company growth with a 10-line economic model:

➔ Begin with revenue target

➔ Work back to foundations

➔ Keep it simple and visible

The model runs on three parts:

1. Pipeline maths → objective clarity within 10 lines maximum

2. Market validation → commercial truth from your own SDRs

3. Ecosystem activation → brand, community, and partnerships

Real engines blend statistics and market truth for predictable scaling.

Difference of warm vs cold pipeline

• Cold pipeline = high cost, low yield

• Ecosystem pipeline = low cost, high yield

Trust from referrals halves acquisition friction and doubles conversions.

For small B2B teams, ecosystem-driven inbound becomes their survival.

Paul’s revenue scaling blueprint

✔ Improve success rates before adding headcount

✔ Boost SDR outputs with cataloguing, not volume

✔ Double down on inbound and ecosystem plays

❌ Avoid hiring ahead of the engine

❌ Avoid chasing “meetings booked”

❌ Avoid over-engineering GTM models

Scaling only works if every lever connects back to your model.

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Actual leadership means barricade removal

Kelley Hippler emphasizes that people-centered leadership builds resilient sales teams and minimizes short CRO tenures.

Growth engines prioritize people, not just numbers:

Values of people-centered leadership

• Put employees at the center → drives value and retention

• Build trust with honesty, transparency, and coaching values

• Remove barriers so your teams can succeed faster in selling

📌 When leaders create paths for everyone, productivity compounds.

Modern problems new leaders fall into

⚠️ Many CROs default to performance metrics and managing.

⚠️ CROs are too busy keeping their jobs instead of doing them.

Example: A new leader spends the first quarter producing endless KPI reports instead of coaching managers or learning customer needs.

📌 Resilient leaders slow down and focus on what unlocks progress.

Tangible advice for emerging leaders

❖ Get upward feedback through unbiased, reliable channels

❖ Run AMA sessions, meet high potentials, ask what’s working

❖ Focus on removing friction for better customer interactions

❖ Measure tangible outcomes, not just your selling activities

📌 Leadership enables success across teams by managing processes.

Difference between selling and leading

➤ Top reps often assume they can lead by “just doing what I did.”

➤ But individuals have different skills and personal motivations.

Example: A high-performing rep who closed deals with charisma might struggle to coach an analytical seller who wins deals through research and process.

📌 Leadership redirects the spotlight from yourself to your team.

How to prepare for sales leadership

➤ Test high-performers’ interest and fit with mentorship opportunities.

➤ Some will realize they don’t want the job, which saves everyone pain.

Example: Pair your top AE with a new hire as a mentor. If they enjoy coaching and problem-solving, it’s a sign they might succeed as a manager.

📌 The best leader wants everyone to grow, not just climb the ladder.

Why feedback loops reveal great candidates

Nate Nasralla outlines a practical interview hiring test for Mid-Market AE candidates that reveals how quickly candidates adapt by knowing what qualities to watch out for:

1. Pick your customer and why they bought

↳ Example: If you recently closed a SaaS deal because the customer needed integrations, frame the exercise around that same use case.

🔑 Learn how candidates establish discovery for real-world drivers.

2. Give objections for candidates to review

↳ Example: A clip of a CFO asking about ROI or a sales manager pushing back on implementation timing.

🔑 This forces your candidates to prepare like real sellers beforehand.

3. Run a mock discovery and presentation

↳ Example: You act as the VP of Sales, and candidates must ask smart discovery questions before giving a concise demo tied to your stated pain.

🔑 See if they can balance curiosity with clarity, and if they know how to demo.

4. Pause to give feedback on some changes

↳ Example: Maybe they skipped confirming budget authority, or they pitched a feature instead of a business outcome.

🔑 A strong candidate listens, adjusts, and responds well to critiques.

5. Repeat the exercise with a new customer

↳ Example: Now you play a Head of Operations focused on efficiency, not revenue. They must pivot to a new angle.

🔑 Watching the difference shows whether they adapt fast enough.

6. Follow up with a sharp, buyer-ready message

↳ Example: A two-paragraph email summarizing their problems, with customized value-based propositions, and outlining your next steps forward.

🔑 If emails are concise enough to forward internally, they pass your final test.

What to watch for:

✔ Whether they adapt between first and second attempts

✔ Whether they respond positively to feedback or freeze up

✔ How well they translate discovery into written follow-ups

The objective isn’t just spotting baselines but gauging their ramp speed.

TO-GO

Chad Johnson: How fewer, better calls outperform volume

Matt Green: Broken systems are killing quota attainments

Ash O’Connor: Only 29% of SaaS companies have an SDR function

Richard Smith: Team-based feedback drives quicker growth

Marcus Chan: Elite managers transform forecasts into results